Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The URL According to Garth

Garth Turner, outspoken maverick Conservative MP with a blog on which he is frequently critical of "Hats and Horses" Reform/Alliance positions, has been kicked out of the Ontario Conservative caucus. He will sit out the remainder of this term as an independent. His chair has already been moved to the other side of the House.

Garth Turner's blog Sept 13:"This was the first time I met Charles McVety in person, and seriously hope it will be the last. Amen."

Garth Turner's blog Sept 17: [bold : mine]"I came home to an email blast from the man who would save us from ourselves, Charles McVety. He's now on a rant about some pro-homosexual manual allegedly published with taxpayer dollars by some deviants in Toronto and aimed at children. Fine. The world is full of ugliness, and he's welcome to wallow in it."But what was interesting was McVety's email distribution list, which happens to look a lot like our local internal Conservative Party membership, according to the response that has come flooding in to me this morning. There is only one place he could have plugged into that, and it reminds me I may yet be at war with my own party establishment. Hmmm."

Globe&Mail Sept 18:"McVety noted that large numbers of Conservative supporters actively campaigned to get out the vote in the last election for Tory MPs who oppose gay marriage, which he said contributed to a higher voter turnout and a Conservative victory."If they abandon those voters, they won't come out. And if there is not a high voter turnout, there will be no majority [Conservative] government," he said."

CTV : "The PMO has made it clear Turner's suspension was not Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision, and he was just as surprised as anyone else."

CTV : "the final straw for many Tories was [Garth Turner] using the blog to say kind things about Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. The Conservatives' Clean Air Act is to be tabled on Thursday."

THURSDAY UPDATE : From Montreal Simon :"So that's it. Harper has been throwing a lot of bones recently at the wingnut base of his party. He threw them another chance to kill gay marriage. He threw them the Court Challenges Program. And the Status of Women cuts. He dangled the promise of a so-called Defence of Religions Act over them like a big bloody bone. He wanted to get rid of that thorn in his side. And get political capital in return. So today he threw them Garth."AFTERTHOUGHT : If Garth crossed the floor to the Greens now, it would give them a voice in the House.I know he was very critical of Emerson's crossing, but Emerson was headhunted, not ejected.

Thus, they know that the only way they hold on is by splintering everything else (especially with Quebec weakening).

And therein, perhaps, lies the answer to the.....why now?

(ie. make the Greens a viable alternative for anybody who is not part of the 30% cCRAPtacular base and that you can ensure that the redline does not rise again, which in all it's ugly realpolitick nakedness, is what this is all about).

I've never been a fan of Turner, I had to read too much of his self-congratulatory drivel in the Toronto newspapers in the 80s and while he was in the Mulroney cabinet, but it would be sweet to see him sit as a member of the Green Party, just to boost their profile some more -- and he is fairly outspoken on some environmental issues.

Pro-same-sex marriage Tory MPs such as James Moore, Gerald Keddy, and cabinet ministers such as John Baird and Jim Prentice are now officially on notice.

Gazetteer : Look I realize this is a tough one but that same argument is the one the NDP uses against the existence of the Greens. The only difference is that they lump the Libs and Cons together, and see the Greens as their competition.